Goldman Sachs Names Lemkau, Pozzi to New Mergers Roles

Pedestrians pass in front of 200 West Street, which houses the headquarters of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in New York. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the
world’s top-ranked mergers and acquisitions adviser this year,
named Gregg Lemkau to help lead that business worldwide and put
Gilberto Pozzi in Lemkau’s prior role running M&A in Europe.

Lemkau, a 43-year-old U.S. citizen who lives in London,
will be global co-head with Gene Sykes, 55, who lives in Los
Angeles, according to a memo to employees today. A spokeswoman
for New York-based Goldman Sachs confirmed the promotions.

Investment banks are looking for a rebound in takeovers
after global M&A rose to the highest level in four years during
the last quarter of 2012, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. The surge softened the impact of a 9 percent decline
for the full year. About $220 billion in transactions have been
announced so far this year.

Lemkau was co-head of Goldman Sachs’s global technology,
media and telecom group and has advised on transactions
including the $8.5 billion sale of Skype to Microsoft Corp. and
the $16.5 billion sale of Medimmune LLC to AstraZeneca Plc. He
will work closely with Michael Carr, who runs M&A in the
Americas, as well as with Sykes, according to the memo.

The Financial Times reported Lemkau’s move earlier today.

Lemkau’s promotion is part of a shift in management toward
younger executives who were promoted to partner after the firm
went public in 1999 and ceased to be a true partnership. Among
the 30 current members of the management committee, 15 became
partners before the IPO. The memo didn’t say Lemkau would be
joining the management committee.

Partnership Class

Lemkau was promoted to partner in October 2002, and was
part of the same 78-member partnership class that included
William C. Dudley, now the president of the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York; Carsten Kengeter, who later became head of UBS AG’s
investment bank; and Harvey M. Schwartz, who became Goldman
Sachs’s chief financial officer late last month.

Pozzi, a 47-year-old Italian who has been co-head of
Goldman Sachs’s global consumer retail group since 2010, will
continue to be responsible for some clients in that sector while
overseeing deals throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa,
the firm said in a separate memo. Pozzi joined Goldman Sachs in
London in 1995 and was promoted to partner in 2008.

Pozzi’s deals have included Unilever NV’s acquisition of
Russia’s Kalina consumer group and Mittal’s takeover of Arcelor.

Francois-Xavier “FX” de Mallmann, 42, will succeed Pozzi
as co-head of Goldman’s global consumer retail group alongside
Kathy Elsesser. De Mallman, who is based in London and has
French and Swiss citizenship, will also remain responsible for
investment-banking services in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa, a role he’s held since January 2012. De Mallmann joined
Goldman Sachs in 1993 and has been a partner since 2004.

The three memos on Lemkau, Pozzi and de Mallmann were
signed by Richard J. Gnodde, David Solomon and John S. Weinberg,
the three co-heads of investment banking.